A 24-unit townhome community proposed in Seaside Heights by builder K. Hovnanian. View from the corner of Lincoln Avenue and the Boulevard. (Courtesy: Mike Loundy)
A premier real estate development firm’s project – the first of its kind in Seaside Heights – has received final approval from the borough’s planning board.
“The Views at Seaside Heights,” proposed by K. Hovnanian Properties, received unanimous support from the board at a recent meeting, paving the way for construction on the 24-unit townhome community to get underway once the site is fully cleared. The property located along the Boulevard between Lincoln and Dupont avenues, was once the home of the Offshore Motel, a troubled property that was demolished after surrendering its license to operate after the land was declared an area in need of redevelopment.
K. Hovnanian’s project will bring residential properties to the southern portion of the Boulevard, which has historically served as a commercial district, however board members were amenable to the development given the developer’s long-standing record as a respected firm as well as its promise to comply with the town’s redevelopment plan by designing a facade that will fit in with the character of the corridor.
“The townhomes will be situated in three buildings,” said Scott Turner, the project’s engineer. “We have a ten unit building along Lincoln Avenue, we have a seven-unit building in the center of the property, and the third building is along Dupont Avenue and will also be a seven-unit building.”
A 24-unit townhome community proposed in Seaside Heights by builder K. Hovnanian. View from Lincoln Avenue. (Courtesy: Mike Loundy)
A 24-unit townhome community proposed in Seaside Heights by builder K. Hovnanian. View from the Boulevard. (Courtesy: Mike Loundy)
In total, the townhomes will be offered as fee-simply residential units, governed by a small homeowners’ association that will maintain the outdoor areas. Each unit will have its own deeded block and lot, with one additional lot saved for access driveways and decorative landscaping as well as three guest spaces, Turner said. Green space is a major aspect of the project, which will reduce the impervious coverage of the lot from 98 percent (during the motel’s existence) to 84 percent. The surfaces inside the development will be porous to filter stormwater, and each unit will have a tandem, two-car garage with an electric vehicle charging station.
All of the units will be three-bedrooms, and each will have a two-car garage. The garages will be oversized, with plans for residents to keep their trash and recycling receptacles inside and wheel them out on collection day. This prevents a dumpster from having to be placed in the center of the development.
The developer will create two new driveways along the Boulevard to allow entrance and egress from the property, with the driveways 24-feet wide and made of porous paving.
Aesthetically, Hovnanian will be adding flora to the site and rebuilding curbs and drive aisles that are reflective of the borough’s redevelopment plans as well as the county’s design of the Boulevard business district’s sidewalks. There will be concrete curb and sidewalks installed along the side streets and granite-block curbing along the Boulevard, Turner said.
“We also are proposing, along the Boulevard, two types of brick pavers which will match what was previously constructed by the county,” he added. “Also along the Boulevard, we’ve provided flowering trees, so we believe we’re consistent with the development plan and have provided as much greenery as it was possible to provide.”
Altogether, Hovnanian will plant 48 trees, 130 shrubs and a buffer between the complex and its residential neighbors.
“We paid particular attention to the eastern part of the site where we have the most impact to our neighbors, and what we provided there is a row of evergreen junipers and a six-foot high white vinyl privacy fence that runs the entire length of the property from Lincoln to Dupont Avenue.”
A traffic engineer who reviewed the plan said that trip generation would be down from the motel use, with the townhomes producing 11 to 14 vehicles during the morning and afternoon peak hours whereas the motel would generate 18 trips. On Saturday mornings, the townhomes will generate 16 trips compared to 27 for the motel.
Offshore Motel, Seaside Heights, N.J., Sept. 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)
The demolition of the former Offshore Motel, March 2024. (Photo: Mike Loundy)
“All in all, it’s a less-intensive development in terms of a traffic standpoint,” the engineer said.
The Offshore Motel was, notably, the 20th motel to be demolished in Seaside Heights. The long-troubled property was first subject to having its license to operate revoked in 2021 following the murder of a woman by an acquaintance who has since been sentenced to 35 years in state prison. The motel had also been in the news after a man was hospitalized after jumping from a window there, and had drawn countless nuisance complaints over the years.
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